Key roll-outs from Apple, Facebook and Google are expected to drive the global social payments, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

Juniper predicts that uptake for Apple Pay Cash, the service which allows customers to send and receive money to friends and family, will initially be slow due to a strong banking network in its launch markets. However, the total number of annual transactions via the service will approach one billion by 2020.

The study also forecasts that the number of registered mobile domestic money transfer users will surpass 2.5 billion this year, up from an estimated 1.7 billion in 2016. Juniper attributes this increase to social media apps such as WeChat, Facebook and others witnessing a dramatic rise in service usage, along with the introduction of new services including Apple Pay Cash and Zelle Pay.

Research author Nitin Bhas commented: “It was inevitable that players such as Apple would follow in the footsteps of WeChat Pay and AliPay, and offer a universal set of payment features integrating P2P, alongside existing contactless and ticketing functionalities.”

In addition, use of mobile money services such as M-PESA, Orange Money and MTN Money will exceed one billion registered users by 2020, according to Juniper. Operators are increasingly facilitating service interoperability, both at national and international level – opening up the market for faster growth.

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